WEG 12-Spring/Summer 2009

WIRRAL EVERGREEN
Issue 12 Spring/Summer 2009
The magazine of Wirral Environmental Network
Promoting Wirral’s environment and sustainable living
It’s time for a change!
You may have noticed that the masthead of the newsletter has changed for this
edition. Some years ago, this organisation was called Wirral Environmental Network.
Then it merged with the Wirral LA21 Forum, and the resulting organisation was
called Wirral LA21 Network. It’s hard to believe for those interested in environmental
issues, but even after this length of time there’s still a very low level of awareness in
the public at large of what LA21 actually means. This hampered the organisation’s
efforts to get the green message across to people. The final straw came when it was
noticed that the Live Wirral Community Awards trophy, won recently by Jim O’Neil for
Community RePaint, had ‘Wirral LAZI Network’ etched on the glass.
Lazy we ain’t!
The Trustees discussed the situation at the recent AGM and decided to revert to the
name Wirral Environmental Network which, to coin a phrase, ‘does what it says on
the tin’. This took effect officially from the new financial year at the beginning of April
and is in the grand tradition of ‘re-use, recycle’ etc!
A Date for your Diaries
Wirral Environmental Network is pleased to announce it will be holding a Winter
Green Fair on Saturday 28th November from 11am to 3.30pm in St. Mary's RC
College in Wallasey Village. Those of you who have visited our Green Fairs before
will know that they offer a range of local allotment produce, Fairtrade items, ethically
sourced Christmas gifts and tasty refreshments.
We will be contacting people already on our database shortly but we are always
keen to have newcomers to our events. If you know of anyone selling recycled crafts,
local produce or any environmentally friendly items, please ask them to call Pete on
644 6958 or alternatively call the office on 639 2121 or email [email protected] and ask
to be added to our events database; we will send them booking information soon.
Stalls fees start at £10 up to £20 for traders. There is also a 20% discount for
members.
Also, if you are interested in organising a Green Fayre, please feel free to contact
Pete directly. An opportunity has arisen to provide one lucky volunteer with event
organising experience. Help and support will be provided as will travel and other
expenses.
Wirral Environmental Network: Reg. Office Wirral Environment Centre,
Sandon Building, Falkland Road, Wallasey, Wirral, CH44 8ER. Tel: 0151 639 2121.
We do not inherit the world from our parents. We borrow it from our grandchildren.
The Darker Side of the Palm Oil Trade by Suzi Turnock
Palm oil is one of the most widely produced vegetable
oils and is used in a range of household products,
cosmetics and food. Friends of the Earth (FOE) have
reported that palm oil is found in 1 in 10 food products.
It has also been claimed that palm oil can be used as a
biofuel to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
(GHG) in the transport sector. In developing countries,
the palm oil trade can encourage rural development
and economic stability and is the basic income for
some of the world’s poorest farmers. It may appear at
first glance that palm oil can benefit the environment
and encourage social development.
dependent upon strong working relationships and
commitment between palm oil companies, the
government, NGOs and local communities.
Nevertheless we can all play a part in demanding that
palm oil is grown in a sustainable way. A FOE survey
found that many UK companies do not know where
palm oil in their products originates and palm oil is
often labelled as simply “vegetable oil”. Our
government needs to be persuaded to make it
compulsory for UK companies to label the exact type of
vegetable oil and to disclose the original source.
The sad truth is that tropical rainforests are being
cleared to grow palm oil resulting in significant Green
House Gas emissions!! The habitat of endangered
species is inevitably being destroyed, which could
cause the extinction of species such as the Bornean
orangutan within the next 12 years. New plantations
are often proposed for biodiversity hotspots and are
also developed on the native land of local communities
often despite their objections. This has resulted in
increased social conflicts. Governments defend these
agriculture practices on the grounds of economic
development. However entire communities are often
trapped in poverty due to very low wages and appalling
living conditions on the plantations.
Boycotting products containing palm oil may be
unrealistic and ineffective. Sustainable management of
the palm oil industry is urgently needed. This is
Victims of the palm oil tradeorphan orangutans in a sanctuary. Their habitat
has been destroyed as a result of the palm oil trade.
Bio fuels—the future
The biggest ever single UK public investment
in bioenergy research has been announced
by the main funding agency for the
biosciences – the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC).
The £27M BBSRC
Sustainable Bioenergy
Centre has been launched
to provide the science to
underpin and develop the
important and emerging UK
sustainable bioenergy
sector – and to replace the
petrol in our cars with fuels
derived from plants.
Minister of State for
Science and Innovation,
Lord Drayson, "The centre
Willow—one of is a great example of the
the many
UK investing in innovative
different biofuels areas which have the
benefits of creating new green collar jobs as
well as helping us to meet the global challenges of climate change and reducing carbon
emissions."
The Centre’s research activities will
encompass many different stages of
bioenergy production, from widening the
range of materials that can be the starting
point for bioenergy to improving the crops
used by making them grow more efficiently to
changing plant cell walls. The Centre will also
analyse the complete economic and
environmental life cycle of potential sources of
bioenergy.This means the researchers will be
working to make sustainable bioenergy a
practical solution by improving not only the
yield and quality of non-food biomass and the
processes used to convert this into biofuels
but ensuring that the whole system is
economically and socially viable.
For further information please go to
http://bsbec.bbsrc.ac.uk
Tree planting is done - What next?
tree trail for spring which will be launched on
May 30. A similar tree trail for autumn is
To start the planting session at the end of last planned, but we will wait for the reaction to the
first tree trail before completing it. For each
year, Tree Wardens Genevieve and Dave
headed off one winter day to join the Friends tree trail, Joanne has offered to give the Tree
Wardens £50. We have also been invited to
of Grange Cemetery and Transition Town
take a children's workshop on a Saturday,
West Kirby. Over two planting days, one in
perhaps the launch itself. Please call the
November and one in January, a new
WEN office on 639 2121 to find out when the
community orchard was planted. The
dates are.
Orchard has plenty of fruit and nut trees all
able to grow within our climate and hopefully
On Friday, February 27, Lena, Margaret and
able to withstand the changes happening to
Bob, an additional Tree
our weather. (and Gen and Dave were able
to appreciate the Black Poplar in Upton on the Warden helper, planted a
number of trees on the
way back)
This was followed up by a pruning lesson on Tower Grounds, New
existing trees in a local garden, kindly donated Brighton. These included
several hawthorn, several
by Nina and Anthony.
hollies, a goat willow, and
two apple trees. Another
planting of a few oaks is
planned. These will be
tended by Margaret who
lives nearby and is able to Bob planting trees in
the tower grounds
take in the Tower Grounds
on her daily walk.
Wirral Tree Warden Winter Update:
Gen, Sandria, Nina and friends enjoying the Fruit tree
pruning session held in West Kirby.
Many people who attended felt they gained
the confidence to prune their own fruit trees
and the WTW’s had another bottle of lovely
home made apple juice to enjoy as a thank
you.
On Friday, January 30, Lena, Kay and
Margaret helped and guided the children of
Hillside Primary School, Noctorum, in planting
nearly 100 trees. It was a cold day but the
children were very enthusiastic, so it was fun.
Every child planted something and now have
a tree to call their own. The School is going to
have an enviable wood in years to come
which will be an adventure playground for its
pupils.
At the request of Joanne Dixon, Vale House
Family Learning, we have also designed a
So, as usual, winter has been busy for the
Wirral Tree Wardens and we are looking
towards our summer “Trees Love Care”
Campaign rather than resting on our laurels
(so to speak). If you are interested in joining
us on any of our activities, please call 639
2121. We are all amateurs, sharing
knowledge and experience and working with
the Tree Council to bring a good
understanding of native trees to local people.
We meet quarterly and have regular events.
One of our summer plans is to help ranger
Peter Miller with a survey of a section of trees
in Dibbinsdale Nature Reserve, anyone
wishing to join the initial survey and planning
session, please meet at the Dibbinsdale hotel
on Sunday, the 19th of April at 10.30am.
Remember, you don’t have to be a tree
warden to care for trees, just throw your old
washing up water over them in summer twice
a week (or more if there has been no rain)
WTW part of Wirral Environmental Network.
Welcome to Suzi and Cheryl
Cheryl Buxton-Sait
of Chester has recently taken up the post of
Fairtrade Project Worker. Cheryl has been a
supporter of Wirral LA21 for many years and
has been involved in many eco projects both
in Chester, North Wales and on the Wirral.
Her current projects include being on the
steering group of Transition Chester with a
special interest in the Trees for Chester
working group; a project to plant fruit and nut
trees on publicly accessible land in the city.
Similar to the Community Orchard planted
over the winter in West Kirby.
Of her new role at Wirral LA21 Cheryl states
“I am very excited to work for an organisation I
have supported for many years” and “I really
want to see that Fairtrade is kept high on the
agenda. This in turn encourages us to think of
the injustices in the world but emphasises
how here in this country we can make a big
difference to the lives of people living in
poverty”
Cheryl is also interested in green housing
schemes. She currently lives in a housing
collective in Chester and is on the working
group for an embryonic low carbon community
in Liverpool.
Suzi Turnock
Suzi has worked with numerous primate
species, including mandrills, gibbons and
orang-utans. Last year she conducted
research on captive spider monkeys in
Honduras and has written a book on the
captive care of spider monkeys. The book is
currently being translated into Spanish and
will be distributed to zoos and sanctuaries
across Central and South America.
Over the past couple of years Suzi has been
studying at university, volunteering for
conservation organisations in Thailand and
Indonesia and travelling in South East Asia.
She has gained a BSc in Wildlife
Conservation and specialised in Primate
Conservation for her Masters degree and
hopes to start her PhD on the behaviour and
welfare of captive primates within the next Having been passionate about wildlife and
couple of years.
conservation from a very early age, Suzi
hopes to continue with her chosen career
path, gaining more experience locally and
internationally. Suzi started volunteering at
Wirral Environmental Network at the end of
2008 and she is assisting Jim on the RePaint
project and helping Cheryl with the Fairtrade
project.
(Welcome to you both. Thank you for taking
on this important project. We all look forward
to hearing how you are doing in expanding
Wirral’s commitment to Fairtrade—Ed.)
Wake up Bookworms!
Here at WEN we have an ever-growing
collection of books, videotapes, 35mm
slidesets, audio tapes and CD-ROMs, most
of which are available for loan, and a
cupboard full of reference material. On your
first visit we will require two written items of
identification, and there is a nominal charge –
see www.la21.net then go to ABOUT US then
to LIBRARY for more details.
EXTINCTION,
paperback novel by Ray Hammond, 2005,
published by Macmillan. Science-Fiction at its
finest – weather-control technologies threaten
the future of life on earth, leading to whole
communities living on shipping hulks chained
together. Although we don’t (yet) have
weather control we do have climate change,
and this story is too near our own possible
They are all related to environmental matters future to be an entirely comfortable read – but
still really gripping.
in the widest sense of the word and as time
and money allows we add to the collection.
Recently we have been able to buy a few
NO WASTE LIKE HOME,
paperback, 2005,
new titles, many of which were paid for by
published by Virgin Books. Based on the
donated book tokens, which helped to keep
recent television series of the same name.
costs down.
VICTORIAN FARM,
hardback, 2009,
published by BBC Books.
Based on the recent television series of the
same name.
Some of the new titles we have acquired in
the last few months include:
SAVE CASH AND SAVE THE PLANET,
paperback, 2005.
Published by Friends of the Earth this is 440
pages of, well, everything really - “a friendly
read, that can help save you money”.
Detailed with plenty of links for further
information.
DO THE RIGHT THING,
paperback, second edition 2006,
published by New Internationalist. This is
subtitled “a guide to ethical living” and it’s
similar to the FOE book, but shorter – an
excellent introduction, again with links for
more information.
SUSTAINING LIFE,
hardback, 2008,
published by OUP.
A beautifully-illustrated academic work
showing how human health depends on
biodiversity.
STARBUCKED,
paperback, published 2007 (USA) 2008 (UK).
The story of Starbucks Coffee Houses – love
‘em or hate ‘em
TRANSITION HANDBOOK,
paperback, 2008,
published by Green Books, The “bible” of the
Transition Towns movement, the first in
Wirral being TT West Kirby. (We also have a
Totnes Pound note, but that’s not for loan!)
Please come in and have look, and borrow
items if you wish, but it would be helpful to
ring us first to make an appointment, so you
can be sure that someone is here to help
you. 639 2121
Environmental Time Capsule - fifteen years on!
anniversary celebration will take place early
on Saturday afternoon; the exact time is yet to
be determined, because Professor John
Guillebaud cannot be present this year due to
family commitments, but is determined to get
in touch via phone from Ireland to be part of
the event, and organisers are trying to work
around that. On Sunday, three Wombles will
be in attendance - not that Ness's wellbehaved visitors will leave any litter for them
In 2009, the fifteenth anniversary of the burial, to collect!
the annual celebration will form part of a
two-day festival at Ness Gardens on 6th and This is an ideal chance to visit Ness Gardens.
7th June. Details have yet to be finalised, but Normal admission charges apply, but on 6th
and 7th June you can enjoy not only the fine
there will be displays on gardening to meet
gardens themselves, but a significant
the challenge of climate change - drought
resistant plants, water conservation, recycling, environmental event; mark the dates in your
diary! For more details of the festival please
composting etc. It is hoped that the new
keep an eye on our website www.la21.net
wildflower meadow will be at its best for the
event. Music as well as activities for children which will have a link to the Ness Gardens
website nearer the time.
will be available. The time capsule
In June 1994, an environmental time capsule
was buried in Ness Gardens, as part of an
international project. It contained examples of
positive and negative aspects of life in 1994,
as well as a letter of apology to the future, and
work by schoolchildren, some of whose
contributions are available to read in the book
'The Promise', available from the Wirral
Environmental Network office.
Lights, Camera, Roll Phase Out!
An EU directive has been passed to phase
out light bulbs which use more energy. From
the 1st of September 2009, production will
stop on all F and G rated clear bulbs. It will
also mean that any frosted, opal, pearl or any
other opaque finish bulb made will have to be
an A rated, energy efficient bulb. This is the
start of a four year phase out of all bulbs
which have a worse than C rating.
Low energy light bulbs are
available in many different
shapes and sizes, fitting
almost every light socket.
The technology has even
been developed to create
a low energy dimmable
light and ones suitable for
outdoor use.
2008 Energy statistics published
The 26th of March saw the release of
Government statistics on energy consumption
in 2008. Total energy production in 2008 was
177.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent, 4.8
percent lower than 2007.
When examining
seasonally adjusted
and temperature
corrected annualised
rates showed:
Total inland
consumption on a
primary fuel input
basis was 223.9
million tonnes of oil
equivalent in 2008, 3.1 percent lower than in
2007.
Between 2007 and 2008 coal and other solid
fuel consumption fell by 8.4 percent.
Oil consumption decreased by 2.8 percent.
Gas consumption rose by 0.4 percent.
Primary electricity consumption
decreased by 11.0 percent.
If you would like to read the full report please
go to the Department for Energy and Climate
Change’s website
http://www.decc.gov.uk/
Gardening Taster
RePaint Opening Hours
21st April 2009
Come and plant your own pot of summer
colour at the Live Wirral Community House
2-4 Laird Street (on the corner of Bray Street).
Sessions open 10am to 12 noon and 1pm to
3pm.
Also following on from the planting session
there will be a four week “Getting Started”
course running every Tuesday 9.30am to
12noon starting on the 28th of April 2009
Both are free and ideal for beginners.
Please contact the office for further details
on 639 2121.
Community RePaint Wirral is adopting it’s
summer opening hours when it opens after
the Easter Break on the 20th of April 2009.
As always the opening hours are 1pm to 5pm
every Monday Wednesday and Friday.
RePaint is closed for summer holidays from
5pm, Friday the 3rd of July and reopens on
Monday the 20th of July at 1pm.
Just a quick reminder to say, RePaint now
does wallpaper at £1 per roll and is taking
donations of left-over paint and wallpaper.
[email protected]
Wirral Transport Users Association
Wirral Tree Wardens are holding their
is presenting 'A Transport Extravaganza' film
show Wednesday 15th April, 7.30 - 10.00pm
The Bebington Suite, Bebington Civic Centre,
CH63 7PN
Tickets £5 including refreshments.
For tickets or info please contact Mr A T
Garrett, Secretary, 342 6805.
next meeting on the 10th of June at 7.30 pm
at the WEN Office. Everybody welcome, call
639 2121 if you would like more information.
Wirral Transport Users Association is a
membership organisation for people
interested in public transport. It supports
electrification of the Bidston-Wrexham line,
and new stations suggested for various places
in the Wirral peninsula, among other
initiatives. Coach trips are run, and there is a
twice-yearly newsletter. Subscription is £5/yr
individual, £7.50/family, £10/corporate. Please
contact Brian Grey, 56 Coombe Road, Irby,
CH561 4US for details, enclosing a SAE.
Transition Town West Kirby will be
having a stall in the Ashton Park May Bank
Holiday fete. You can come along on Monday
the 4th of May and find out what is going on
in the first northern Transition Town. Maybe
you’d like to sign up to one of the working
groups?
What are you doing on the 5th of June? Will
you take public transport to work or set up a
car share on the Travelwise website?
Share your story of World Environment
Day with us by emailing it to [email protected].
100 words or less and original picture only
please.
Editorial—You don’t need a big space to grow your own food.
You don’t need a lot of space to grow your
own fruit and vegetables. Many salad
vegetables can be grown in pots or troughs.
As long as you water them regularly (every
early morning or evening in hot weather and
at least twice a week the rest of the time.)
adventurous, why not try two or three
cauliflower in a trough.
Trust me, I know, I ended up giving away
vegetables to my neighbours.
As with all plants, you need to water and feed
them on a regular basis. There are some
A trough planted in early April will provide you good organic fertilisers on the market. Next
with a great crop of baby spinach, once a
Edition I hope to bring you articles on “having
week for most of the summer and if you use
your own wormery” and “the fun of an ecosuccession planting methods (sowing a few
retrofit”
seeds every two or three weeks) another
If you have a story you think I would be
trough can provide you with plenty of lettuce
interested in, please contact the office with
for the summer. Pak Choi can be grown in
details and your email address and phone
the same way but starting later in the growing number
season in May and if you are really
Ed
Fairtrade Schools
West Kirby Primary School is the latest school on the Wirral
to embrace Fairtrade!
They have been guided by the WEN Fairtrade Project Worker Cheryl BuxtonSait, the “School Council” has thought about all the issues involved and
created a Fairtrade policy for the school.
This includes a wide range of measures, from refreshments for both pupils
and staff at playtimes, lunchtimes and meetings to using the latest DVD’s in
lesson and even to circulating Wirral’s Fairtrade directory to all the parents.
During Fairtrade fortnight in Febuary, the school ran a poster competition to
encourage pupils to think about Fairtrade and its impact on people in poorer
countries. The staff at WEN judged the competition, and Cheryl commented
“we found judging them inspiring, interesting and difficult as there were so many good
posters. After much thought and debate we picked out Mark Kattakayam as the winner. We
thought the poster showed a good balance of artistic flair and relevant information.”
Winning poster in West Kirby Primary’s Fairtrade Competition by Mark
Kattakayam.
She also commended the work of Coco King and Archie Fletcher. The three posters will
remain on display within the school as part of the commitment to Fairtrade the school has
chosen to make. Becoming a Fairtrade School helps guarantee a better deal for farmers and
workers in the developing world and is an excellent chance for pupils to make a real
difference whilst having fun.
It is now even easier to buy Fairtrade; Cadbury Dairy Milk will be certified by the end of
summer 2009. This will triple the sales of Cocoa (the main ingredient in chocolate) under
Fairtrade terms in Ghana.
If you would like more information on Fairtrade for your school, workplace or home life, please
call Cheryl on 0151 639 2121 or email [email protected]